Wow it's been a while. It took some time for me to find my inspiration again, but thank god I finally did. I missed this story.

And thank you for the comments and for being patient with me so far. I'm doing a lot better now and hope to continue doing so.

Enjoy ;)

"In two weeks, you will all be tested on three things: strategy, strength, and endurance. You'll be given tasks to complete that require those three skills. Complete these tasks and you will progress to the East and West Training Grounds. Fail, and you will be transferred to a new troop here in the South."

Nino stood facing Marinette and her troop outside their tents. They were nearing the end of their time as recruits, and soon they would graduate to the general population. That is, if they passed their exam.

A soldier raised his hand. "How are the East and West any different from here?"

"For one, the grounds are much larger, and there's more equipment there. Your training regime will also be different. You see, everyone ends up in the East and West eventually. That means that there are many soldiers with all different skill levels. For the most part you will stick to your assigned troop, but if one of you progresses faster than the rest, you will be reassigned to a new troop that fits your skills better. Reassignment happens a lot in the East and West, so you'll have to get used to it.

"There's one thing I think you'll like, though. Soldiers in the East and West have the opportunity to specialize in the combat of their choice." A wave of murmurs went across the troop. "We don't expect everyone to become experts in everything, but if you show a certain aptitude, you can train separately to hone that skill."

Interesting. Marinette mulled over the different areas of her training, wondering which one she would want to specialize in. There wasn't much to pick from, really. All she could think of was hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship, archery, climbing perhaps? There must be other skills they have to offer that she simply hasn't been introduced to yet.

Rhino spoke up loudly. "So how do you get from the East and West to the North?"

Nino eyed him, as if he was hesitant to say. Marinette didn't blame him. She wouldn't want Rhino as a Northern soldier either. "You have to specialize in everything."

Rhino scoffed. "That's all? Shouldn't be that hard."

Nino narrowed his eyes. "Trust me, becoming a Northern soldier isn't for the faint of heart. You need dedication. At the very least it takes about two years to complete the training necessary to join. Besides, did you forget what happened to our last group of Northern soldiers?"

Rhino's smirk disappeared as everyone grew quiet.

Everyone in the South had gained a lot of respect for the Northern soldiers since Squad D. It really put into perspective what kind of work they'd be signing up for if they chose to pursue a position there. Most of them were just fine staying as they were, but some, namely Rhino, still wanted to chase the esteem that came with being a Northern soldier.

However, Marinette was almost positive Rhino would never get there. From what she had seen and heard, Chat chose his top soldiers not only on their accomplishments, but also their character. He needed to trust them with whatever tasks he had, and that was much more important than any skill set.

They hadn't spoken since the other night. She heard from Nino that he was barred from training for a few days by the medic, but she doubted he listened. If there was one thing she learned about Chat, it was that he was really good at convincing others he was fine, but he was even better at convincing himself.

She tried not to be, but she was worried about him. He told her he'd let her know when he was better so they could train, but every day that passed with no word had her growing more concerned.

One morning, she was on her way to their clearing when she decided to swing by his tent and check on him. To her surprise, the light was off.

She gave a small sigh of relief. Good, at least he's getting some sleep. For a brief moment she pictured him on the ground of his tent, no bed, no pillow, just a blanket.

There was no way he actually slept like that, right? Maybe this wasn't his personal tent. Maybe he only kept blankets in there for when it got chilly, and his real tent with his bed was somewhere else. Either way, if he wasn't here, then that meant he wasn't standing at that table staring at that stupid map anymore.

She went to the Training Grounds and grabbed a bucket. As she walked to the clearing, she was happy that she could carry it the whole distance without once taking a break. She went around and started lighting the torches, but she froze when she heard branches snapping ahead. Staying as still as possible, she peered into the darkness on the opposite end of the clearing. To her surprise, Chat's face appeared.

So much for him getting some sleep.

He looked a little tired, but his appearance had improved since she last saw him. The color had returned to his face, and he didn't look like he was about to fall over anymore.

"Taking an early morning stroll?" she said as she set down the buckets. From the direction he was walking, it looked like he was coming from that place with the apple tree, but he didn't know she knew that. Her eyes shot to his knuckles, and she was glad to see there weren't any new injuries.

"You could say that." He nodded his head to the buckets at her feet. "Back to those I see."

"Yeah." Marinette eyed him for a moment, wondering if she should ask him how he's been doing. Instead, she feigned a sigh. "It's a shame, my trainer isn't here today, so I'm working alone again." She gave him a playful look, letting him know that she wasn't serious, and if he wasn't ready to train yet, that was fine.

He said nothing at first, but then he approached the bucket and stared down at the rocks. "It's a shame, your trainer must not know you hate this type of workout." He passed her and headed towards the Training Grounds. At the treeline, he looked over his shoulder, a small smile making its way onto his face. "I think I'll take my stroll down by the posts. Care to join me?"

She grinned, abandoning her bucket in the clearing.

Training with him again was refreshing. Despite everything that happened over the last two weeks, they easily fell right back into their old routine. Chat was just as witty as ever, and being able to laugh with him again had her heart soaring. She had been scared things would never be the same between them, but now, everything was finally back to the way it was.

Almost.

At first she didn't notice. They bantered as they always did, but after a while she realized she was the only one initiating it. Typically she couldn't get him to shut up, but today he simply responded to her while still guiding the training session. Once while she was catching her breath, she snuck a glance at him. He was staring off into space, lost in thought.

Okay, that's fine. She couldn't expect him to be one hundred percent recovered yet. It was going to take some time for him to learn to live with what happened.

Training the next day was no different. Or the next. A week passed and nothing had changed. Whenever she caught him spacing out, she asked him if he was alright. He always said the same thing: I'm fine.

She knew it would take a while for him to come back, but she was really starting to miss him. Right now he was a shell of who he used to be, and it was becoming clearer and clearer to her when he was acting.

She didn't want him to feel like he had to pretend around her. She wanted him to know that he could talk to her if he needed to. She knew from experience that burying her problems only let them grow and spiral in her head, making them a thousand times worse. And after seeing his body give out, she knew that was probably happening.

There must be something she could do. She wasn't sure if he would open up to her, but maybe she could find a way to take his mind off everything, even for just a little while.

He was demonstrating another rope exercise when her eyes landed on his hands again. His wounds were nearly healed, with only faint scars on his knuckles now. She looked down at her own hands and then back at his.

"Where are your gloves?" she asked.

He paused in his explanation and looked over at her. "Uh, they were all ripped up. I had to throw them away."

She knew this, of course. "You should get new ones. You'll hurt your hands doing this. Why don't we swing by the Compound and find some?" she suggested. "I need more face paint anyway."

He blinked at her. "Right now?"

She rolled her eyes. "After training." Before he could respond, she stepped forward to take his place in front of the ropes. "Now, how do I do this?"

"Well I was trying to tell you…"

After they finished, they started off towards the Central Compound. As they walked, it was too quiet. Chat's random commentary was missing, and instead of trying to fill the silence, Marinette said nothing, thinking maybe the emptiness would get to him and he'd start his chatter again.

He didn't. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him peering up at the sky every now and then, but otherwise he stared blankly at the path before them.

A pang of fear stung her. What if things never went back to normal? What if Chat buried himself in his tent again, and any time she tried to go see him he gave her short responses? Not only would she hate to lose Chat as a friend, it would hurt to see him deteriorate before her eyes.

She knew some portion of the old him was just an act, but that didn't mean that wasn't still him. Some part of him was capable of getting up before the sunrise bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to crack jokes for sixteen hours. His overflowing optimism had to come from somewhere, and his free spirit went beyond what could be faked.

Deep down she knew Chat was in there, she just needed to find him.

There weren't many people awake at this hour, but the few they saw greeted Chat enthusiastically. She watched his stance perk up and his face break out into his easygoing smile as he returned the greetings. In fact, from the moment they were in view of any people, he seamlessly relaxed back into his normal, chipper self.

Luckily for them, the seamstress was awake in the supply building. Chat fell into easy small talk with her, asking her about her family and seeming to know all her kids by name. She laid out different sized gloves for him, and as he tried a few on, Marinette's eyes flicked to his left hand, where the jagged scar spanned his palm, and to his right, where the silver ring was still missing.

He settled on a pair of black, fingerless leather gloves, no different from his old pair. The seamstress grabbed Marinette some face paint from the back, and they both thanked her before leaving the building.

Chat stopped outside and turned to face her. She could tell he was preparing to part ways, but Marinette wasn't ready. She wanted to cheer him up, see a real smile on his face, and she had an idea.

Without thinking, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "So how do you like the new gloves? Do you glove them?" She inwardly cringed the second the words left her tongue. Glove them? Are you kidding?! That's so lame…

A bewildered smile crept onto his face. "Did you just make a pun?"

She resisted the urge to cover her face with her hands, instead squeezing her eyes shut. "I don't want to talk about it. Let's just forget it."

A laugh escaped him, and she peeked her eyes open. "I never thought I'd see the day where Ladybug made a pun." He chuckled again as he adjusted his new gloves. "You're right though, I do like them. But if you ever want to borrow them, you're welcome to take them off my hands."

"I've got my own, tha-" her face dropped as the joke dawned on her. She let out a short laugh. "Seriously? It's like you don't even have to think about it."

He shrugged. "What can I say? It's like second nature." He gave her shoulder a pat. "Don't worry. You'll get there one day."

She rolled her eyes, but her heart lifted at the spark of light in his eyes. She couldn't let it die out, not yet.

"Why don't we put it to the test, then?" He looked at her questioningly. "Let's take a walk around the Compound, and whoever manages to sneak the most puns wins."

A competitive smirk appeared on his face as the light grew brighter. "You're on, but I don't think you know who you're up against."

Boy, was he right. They had barely walked twenty feet and he'd already bagged four puns. Although she wasn't expecting to win, she didn't think she would lose this badly. It was like every time he breathed a pun came out, meanwhile she was still trying to think of a subject for hers.

If she was going to have any chance of keeping up, she needed to take charge of the conversation.

"Did you help build these?" She motioned to the buildings around them, hoping to distract him.

"Some of the older ones. Like those," he motioned just ahead to the center of town, "they were the first we built. You could say they're the foundation of this place."

Marinette rolled her eyes, but her focus shifted to the direction of the conversation. "Oh yeah? Which ones?"

Now that Chat was trying to pun as much as possible, he was a lot more talkative. Marinette intended for this to be a competition, but she was completely fine with him taking the reins if it meant she could hear him talk again. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to get some background on the army.

"The kitchen was one of the first, although that building there isn't exactly the original."

"What do you mean?"

"We built the whole thing out of wood at first, including the chimney." He rubbed the back of his neck, a little sheepish. "Looking back, that was probably a little-"

"Ir-ration-al?"

He glanced over at her, his face immensely proud. "That's a fantastic way to put it."

She smiled, happy she made at least one pun so far. "So you burned down the original kitchen?"

"Eh, maybe half of it. It wasn't too hard to rebuild, but we had to sneak into town to get some bricks for the chimney instead."

They approached the building housing the royal soldiers, or to Marinette, the building that looked strikingly like her home.

She pointed to it. "And that one?"

Chat admired the building. "That one was the first."

"Really?" She thought it was an odd choice for the revolution's first building. The curve of the front face made it unique, sure, but it was a whole lot easier to make a four-walled house than attempting something round. "Was it hard to build?"

Chat shook his head. "Nah, piece of cake."

She chuckled to herself. He had just made a pun without realizing it.

They kept walking, and although Marinette managed to sneak a few more puns into the conversation, it wasn't nearly as many as Chat. When they reached the end of the path, her heart sank a little. She was enjoying this extra time with him, and she didn't want it to end. She prepared herself for him to stop, claim his victory, and take his leave.

But he turned, leading them to walk around the perimeter of the field. They passed rows of crops and waved to the few farmers that were out tending to them this early.

The conversation eventually died out, as did the puns. They walked in comfortable silence for a while, simply enjoying the fresh morning air. Marinette wondered why she and Chat never took walks together before. It was nice.

"It's funny, I was never much of a morning person before, but I like them now. It's peaceful out here." She turned to look at Chat. "You're a morning person, right?"

"Oh yeah. I don't think I've ever slept past dawn."

She gave him a doubtful look, and he stared right back at her. Her face turned incredulous. "Seriously? Come on, in your entire life, you've never once slept in before?"

He thought back for a moment. "No, never."

"What about when you're sick?" She slept like a dog when she was sick. She thought everybody did.

"It doesn't matter. I'll still wake up."

She, the queen of sleeping in, was baffled. "But- How?" It wasn't like it didn't make sense; some people had that inner clock, but every single day? She couldn't relate at all. Getting her up in the morning was like pulling teeth; her mom could attest to that.

He shrugged. "I was a busy kid."

She shook her head to herself. "Wow, I can't imagine."

"I know, it's hard to imagine me not being this handsome." She elbowed him, but she still cracked a smile. He chuckled at his joke before nudging her back. "You're welcome, by the way."

She gave him a puzzled look. "For what?"

"Making you a morning person."

She pressed her lips together, doubtful. "I'm pretty sure I did that on my own."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? Who do you think fought to get you up every morning? I don't think you remember most of it, but you've said many things to me. You have quite the colorful language when you're tired."

Her face flushed as she tried to recall those mornings. She had no idea what he was talking about. "What? What did I say?" He clasped his hands behind his back and looked around, not answering. "Chat?" He suppressed a smile, and she covered her face with her hands. "Oh god."

They passed by the stables and said a quick hello to Alya's father before continuing around the field, but Marinette still felt embarrassed. However, it reminded her of something she wanted to talk to him about. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why don't you have a bed in your tent?" She glimpsed his face for a moment; he looked a little taken aback. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snoop around. It's just the other night I thought I'd move you to your bed, but I couldn't find one."

Chat nodded. "Um, well," he looked as though he didn't know what to say, "I just… don't need one."

"What do you mean? You don't sleep on the ground, do you?"

He gave a small shrug. "I'm used to it."

What? She blinked at him. Who prefers to sleep in the dirt, especially when beds are readily available? "So," she paused, trying to make sense of it, "you must have a different tent you sleep in? One with a bed?"

"No."

She stared at him, perplexed. He could read all the questions on her face, and he sighed. "Look, I really don't mind. Usually I'm just napping anyway."

She waved her hands in front of her. "Wait a second." He had just said he always woke up before dawn, and she knew he often stayed up late at night. "When do you sleep then?"

"I don't know, it depends. Usually an hour here and there." Chat looked pretty indifferent about it.

Marinette stopped in her tracks, dumbstruck. Her eyes were fixed on him. He stopped walking and looked back at her. "What?" He exhaled through his nose. "Look, it's fine-"

"No, it's not." She couldn't believe he didn't see it. "This is why you collapsed on me! You're barely getting any sleep!"

"So what? I've always done this."

Oh, perfect. She wondered how many times he'd exhausted himself in past. "And was that the first time you passed out because of it?"

He pressed his lips together and averted his eyes, not answering.

Her eyes widened as concern flared in her. "Chat, you need to start taking care of yourself-"

"Who says I'm not?"

She gave a pointed look to his knuckles, and he dropped his gaze to them. He went quiet, but then he let out a deep sigh.

"Look," he searched for the words to say, "it's not like I'm choosing not to sleep. I just," he met her eyes again, looking defeated, "…can't."

Her mind flashed to the night in his tent. Please… Let me out of here… Help me.

She had no idea what he'd been through, but she knew it wasn't good. It was obvious whatever it was haunted him, so much that he couldn't rest at night. Her face softened. "You know if you need to, you can talk to me, right?"

He shifted his gaze to the ground, looking conflicted. She wanted to know what he was feeling, but his face was unreadable. When he looked up, though, he had that tired expression again, but there was a hint of gratitude in his eyes. "Thank you."

She gave him a warm smile.

They didn't say much the rest of the walk, but she was okay with that. She was still digesting everything she had just learned, and Chat was probably processing everything he just shared.

He walked her all the way back to the edge of the South Grounds. They parted ways, and as she was about to disappear into the tents, she felt the urge to look back over her shoulder. Chat was still standing there, and only then did he turn around to leave.

The rest of the morning, Marinette thought about Chat's nightmares. She wondered what they were and how long he had been bothered by them. She recalled Nino telling her something about Chat. He had said they were on the road together for a while before coming here, and then he mentioned something about being vulnerable when you sleep. Maybe he could offer a little insight.

She flagged him down at lunch and pulled him aside. "You've seen Chat sleep, right?"

Nino gave her a weird look. "Uh…"

She inwardly cringed. "Let me rephrase that. Have you heard him sleep talk before?"

"Maybe, why?"

Marinette looked around to make sure they were alone. "Have you ever heard him say 'let me out of here' or something along those lines?"

His face sparked with recognition. "Yeah, actually. A couple times. Must be a recurring dream of his."

She nodded to herself. So this was something spanning years, probably before the revolution started. She felt a great deal of sympathy for him. Poor Chat.

Nino eyed her suspiciously. "Wait." A sly smile slowly crept onto his lips as he seemed to realize something. "Oh, I see what's going on."

She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "Huh?"

He waved a hand dismissively. "It's alright, I'm not gonna say anything. To be honest, I'm not even that surprised." Marinette was so lost, and she was about to ask him when he leaned forward and lowered his voice. "I wouldn't recommend sleeping over too often, though, or else the others might catch on."

And with that, he walked away to join the queue at the lunch table, leaving her wondering what the hell just happened.

Marinette watched Chat as he walked away. She was standing by a post while he searched the ground for a pair of weights, and although he told her to get started on stretching, she didn't. She couldn't stop thinking about what Nino said.

Did he think she and Chat were…

She shook the thought from her head. That's insane! How could he even think that? Sure, they did spend a lot of time together, but that was because he was training her. They were just friends! That's all!

I'm not even that surprised.

She realized she had been staring at him this whole time and averted her gaze. God, get a grip, Marinette. She turned and leaned her shoulder on the post, but then something by her face caught her eye.

Marinette screamed and nearly fell over as she scrambled away. Chat, who had been heading back over, sprinted the rest of the way.

"What's wrong?!"

"S-sp-sp-"

His eyes followed her shaky finger to where a fairly large spider slowly crawled across the wood. He sighed in relief and shook his head, laughing.

"Don't laugh! Please just get rid of it!"

"What, this little guy?"

He approached the spider and held out his fingers, letting it crawl onto his hand. Marinette's face twisted up in horror. "How can you touch it?!"

Chat was way too calm for her liking. "I don't know about you, but I've been living in the woods for the past five years. I sleep next to these guys."

He moved to walk away but paused. He glanced back at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. She took a step back, giving him the most threatening glare she could muster. "Don't. You. Dare."

He stretched it out a moment longer before he rolled his eyes. "Relax, I'm not that mean."

After he'd placed the spider in the woods, he retrieved the pair of weights from where he'd dropped them, as well as an arrow.

"You'd think the revolution's top soldiers would be capable of replacing them, but I guess not," Chat said as he tied up the weights. He placed the arrow between his teeth.

With no hesitation or even a moment to prepare, Chat lifted his foot and started walking up the post. Her mouth fell open as he effortlessly swung the weights higher and higher, the muscles in his arms and back flexing as they worked in coordination with his legs. He reached the top in no time, taking both loops in one hand and sticking the arrow firmly in the post. Then, just as gracefully as he'd gone up, he slowly slid back down, opting to jump off a few feet from the ground.

She gaped at him. He wasn't one bit out of breath. "Alright, now it's your turn."

How was she supposed to follow that? He practically glided up there. She was starting to think he maybe spent a little too much time with the spiders.

On her first climb, she fell just a few feet short of the top. She let out a shout of frustration as Chat placed her back on her feet. "Ugh! How do you do it!"

"Don't worry, you're almost there. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be up and down like it's nothing."

Marinette couldn't help but feel discouraged. Her final tests to leave the South were in less than a week, and she remembered Nino saying this was one of them.

Her troop had long since figured out how to climb the post, and it frustrated her that that was their only obstacle. Most of them already had the strength to pull themselves up, and all they needed to work on was their coordination.

But here she was, having been training for weeks and she still hadn't made it to the top. How on earth did she do it the first time? It must have been some stroke of luck that kept her from falling and breaking her neck.

Chat sensed her exasperation. "If it helps, try not to think about it. Imagine it's just you and the post." She nodded along noncommittally as she stared off, and he waved his hand in front of her face. She looked over at him. "I'm serious. Block out everything around you. Don't think about how far you've gone before or how fast you're moving or how much your body hurts. Just focus on the next step. Nothing else."

She let those words sink into her mind. As much as she wanted to believe otherwise, a part of her couldn't stop doubting her capabilities, and maybe that was why she couldn't make any progress. The very first time she climbed the post, there wasn't a shred of doubt in her mind whether she could do it or not. All she knew was she had been struggling the most in her troop, and then for once she felt like she was ahead of them.

She just needed to clear her mind.

"You're right." She closed her eyes and took a few moments to find her headspace. Block everything else out. The revolution, her troop, her sore muscles, none of that matters.

She approached the post yet again, and just like Chat, she didn't waste time hesitating. She lifted her foot and started the climb. She blocked out Chat moving into his place to catch her, instead placing every ounce of energy into the next step.

One more step. One more. She refused to pay attention to how far away the arrow was and kept her eyes in front of her.

Her arms were seriously burning now. She was reaching her limit, but she kept going.

The arrow came into her view. Really now, just one more step.

She swung her arms with all her might, and then it was right in front of her. Her arms gave out and her legs started slipping. In one last burst of energy she snatched the arrow before she plummeted to the ground.

One moment her heart was in her throat, the next she had landed in Chat's arms. He knelt down with her, and she raised her hand to look at the arrow clenched in her fist.

She looked at Chat. He was beaming. "You did it!"

A wide grin spread across her face as the information set in. "I did it!" She felt ecstatic. She had been trying to do this for weeks, and in that moment all her frustration left her. She started laughing, and despite knowing Chat was waiting for her to stand back up, she didn't care. In her joy she wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a big hug. She could tell he was caught off guard by it, but then she felt his arms wrap around her.

As the thrill of her recent accomplishment died down, Nino's voice rang in the back of her mind. Oh, I see what's going on.

She pulled away from the hug, smiling awkwardly. "I did what you said."

"Works pretty well, doesn't it?"

Chat lifted his fist between them, and she raised hers.

"Pound it."

She took a deep breath before standing up. "Alright, let's do it again!"

As the two of them continued, they were too busy joking and laughing to notice a figure hidden in the forest, watching them. He'd somehow slipped past the guards undetected and stood just beyond the tree line of the North Training Grounds.

Rhino could make out Ladybug's entire face without the cloth hiding it, and in his mind, everything made sense now. Why his roommate was coming back early in the morning, why the runt and the revolutionary leader always seemed so chummy.

He slowly backed away and headed back to his tent.

Her tent.

The next chapter is called "Unveiled"